Southern California -- this just in

Joe Francis surrenders on false imprisonment warrant

August 22, 2011 | 10:28
pm

"Girls Gone Wild" founder Joe Francis turned himself in to the Los Angeles Police Department Pacific Division on Monday night in connection with a misdemeanor warrant, according to multiple law enforcement sources.

Francis, who created the popular videos, arrived at the Pacific Division station accompanied by an attorney and bail bondsman, the source said.

He is expected to be booked and released on $50,000 bail.

Details of the case were not immediately available, but the sources said the charge was misdemeanor false imprisonment.

In 2009, Francis pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of filing false tax returns in which he withheld $500,000 in interest income and bribing jail workers for food by giving them as much as $5,000 in goods. He was also ordered to pay nearly $250,000 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.